Asked about President Obama calling the IRS’ targeting of tea party groups a “phony scandal,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “Anytime the IRS is involved, for many people it’s a real scandal.” But Clinton also said there wasn’t evidence showing the scandal was deliberate, defending the president.

Sources say a key official in charge of overseeing health reform implementation, as well as another staffer, have been put on leave for accepting more than $1,000 in free meals and other items at a 2010 conference.

When heading the FEC’s enforcement office in the late 90’s, the beleaguered IRS official was accused of failing to investigate a Democratic fundraiser. “When it recommended not pursuing the allegations against Mr. Glicken, the FEC staff specifically cited his close ties to the Vice-President, Vice-President Gore,” Dan Burton (R-IN) said at the hearing.